About the composer
Franz Ignaz Beck was born in 1734 in Mannheim, Germany. He studied violin and several
other instruments and was a pupil of Johann Stamitz. He stayed for some time in Venice,
which he appears to have left in a hurry with his employers daughter and in Naples, which
he appears to have left in a hurry after a duel. In the late 1750's he then settles in
France, first in Marseilles and finally in Bordeaux. In both cities he became leader of a
theater orchestra and in 1774 he was appointed organist at St.Seurin cathedral. He became
renowned for his improvisational powers and published several sets of keyboard works and
more than 20 symphonies. He traveled to Paris to attend the premiere of his Stabat Mater
in Versailles where Marie Antoinette expressed her admiration for this work.
Beck seemed to have adjusted easily to the new revolutionary regime in view of some
patriotic music that he has written. He died 31 December 1809 in Bordeaux.
| Date | 1783 |
| Performers | 2 Soprano's, Alto, Tenor, Bass, Mixed Choir and Orchestra |
| Length | 60.47 minutes |
| Particulars | The Stabat Mater is divided in 13 parts and is described as an oratorio. Most important are the four extended choruses, especially the last one, where a fugue on the word "Amen" is seen as proof of the contrapuntal mastery of Beck. |
| Textual variations | The "Analecta"-version of the text is used without any changes, but stanza 12 is omitted. |
| CD | Koch-Schwann 3-6583-2: Musica Sacra, Franz Ignaz Beck, Stabat Mater |
| About this CD | Registration of a concert on May 21, 1999, in the
Gedächtniskirche in Speyer, Germany, during the Schwetzinger Festspiele I bought this CD in a record shop in the Netherlands, 1999 |
| Orchestra | La Stagione Frankfurt |
| Choir | SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart |
| Conductor | Michael Schneider |
| Soloists | Sandrine Piau, soprano Heidrun Kordes, soprano Derek Lee Ragin, countertenor Christoph Einhorn, tenor Klaus Mertens, bass |
| Other works |
E-mail:
stabatmater@dds.nl